I moved to Chicago in 2017 from Texas (most of you at the time told me I was crazy). I mostly moved because of a huge promotion but also because I wanted to experience life in a large, walkable city. I moved here without having ever visited and found my apartment online. I loved Chicago at first, for about the first two years. The architecture is amazing, the food is excellent, and the overall feel of the city is very unique. Best of all, it's WAY more affordable than places like NYC and Seattle. I met a lot of friends here and liked how many people from different countries live in the city. I definitely preferred it over those boring suburbs in Texas.

However, the pandemic totally killed my love for the city and really started to highlight just how dysfunctional and sick Chicago and the state of Illinois are.

Below are some examples of what I'm talking about:

• The mayor and the police did absolutely nothing to curb the BS that happened during the summer of 2020. It's not a good feeling knowing that if something bad happens, the police will do nothing about it. And worst of all, if you defend yourself, you'll have a bunch of idiots wanting to crucify you.


• Everything here is broken or half-assed. The roads are filled with potholes (I recently went to Alaska and their rural roads are in better condition). The Secretary of State still doesn't have a functioning appointment system so people don't need to wait outside in the 95 degree heat. The downtown office was closed for a year and finally just reopened. Road construction takes years. Meanwhile, I went back to TX recently and they have built entire interstates in just a year.


• There's always some new money grab. From the "entertainment tax" on my Netflix bill to the bottled water tax to the bag tax. Most of these are disguised as a way to "better the community" but in reality it's just a cash grab. The gas tax just went up and they also jacked up the car registration fee this year.


• What's even worse is that people here get SO DEFENSIVE if you bring up anything negative. I've been told to LEAVE IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT or "that's just the way things work here". I guess these people have never lived anywhere normal? Complacency is also really common.


• People in Chicago are pushovers and you can't rely on them for anything. My GF got verbally harassed and threatened on the CTA and there were like a dozen other people around and not a single soul said anything. I've been to NYC before and have seen people there on the subway speak up about BS like music playing.


• No offense to anyone outside of Chicago, but there is literally nothing to do in IL outside of Chicago. Most of my tourist visits were spent in neighboring states because they offer so much more.


• It feels like Chicago and Illinois are dying. There was a metal plate on the road on my street for over a year. I checked Google street view and saw that it had been there for two years. Compare this to growing places like Texas where there will be a new shopping center built in the blink of an eye.

I'll see y'all. Come on down to Texas sometime. The summer sucks but it's better than a Chicago winter I suppose.

Yes, Illannoy sucks big time! 690 days and the wife and I are gone.

Look hard at MO...we'll welcome you with open arms!

I'm always concerned when 1, 2 or 3 liberal cities dominate an entire state. Of course, here in The Worker's Paradise, it's Chicago and Cook County. Is there danger of that happening in MO by St. Louis?

We have both St. Louis and Kansas City to contend with but so far so good. We did get SAPA passed last legislative session. Both Houses are Republican controlled. Our 'House' is 'balls to the wall' conservative but the Senate has a case of 'Rino's'. Our Governor is Republican and in his last term. MO is not a bad state at all.

Missouri is soundly red. There are a couple blue cesspools, but the rest of the state is strongly conservative.

Chicago at face value is nice, in reality it’s a crap hole. It’s also a tumor on the rest of the state. Illinois as a whole is a nice place, but the liberal cancer seeps out and brings the whole state down. I’ve live here my whole life, and I’m at the age where it’s time to buy a house, but I don’t see myself bunkering down in a place that doesn’t represent my political and spiritual beliefs. Sadly my entire family is born and raised here, so to leave would be to live alone somewhere else.

That's what happened to me and why I am still here. My line in the sand is my kids though, with them forcing CRT and LGBTBBQ+ agenda on them it may be what forces us out - fortunately in my rural Christian community the school has been direct that they will be ignoring that bullshit for now.

I know what you mean. It is a scary time to be a parent. School and social media are poisoning kids. My best bud has a large family with siblings across a wide age spectrum. The younger ones have all gone off the deep end. Teen pregnancy, drugs, one was expelled for having a diary outlining harming staff and other students. The world has gone mad. I hope you can find an alternate path if your arm gets twisted with all of this nonsense. Good luck to you.

There are people leaving Chicago in droves. Most leave Illinois in general. Not the type you want in your state. Liberal welfare leeches who are a drain on any state budget. Problem is most of Illinois is solid red except for 3 or 4 counties.

What I see in our little town in STL Metro. Some investor or company are buying bigger buildings with little to no plans to do anything with them. Most are by a guy who represents someone in Chicago area. I'll bet this is happening all over. Soon to be section 8 housing near you.

They where even holding liquor liscence until we stopped it. You have to be in operation within 6 months of getting one now or lose it for 2 years before you can reapply.


What I was getting at is they will start trying to intice people to stay with a relatively safe place (for now) while still being on the dole. They might be in danger of losing the EC vote. Tump lost 2016 by 1.1 million only 400,000 in 2020

Where you moving to?

102 counties in IL. When Quinn won his term, he lost 99 counties and still won.

Cook County / Chicago override the rest of the state.

My wife won't move or I'd have left in 2014 when I retired.

It's a dying quail, and people refuse to see it.

As others have stated, IL is run by cook county.  R politicians don't even bother campaigning in cook and dupage.  Rauner winning was a huge shock but we all knew he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything w/ madigan still on his throne.

IL needs an electoral system whereas each county gets one vote towards the governor's race.  

If we didn't have our surprise 3rd child 10 years ago we'd already have land in TN and plans to flee.  Pulling him from IL and putting him in a TN school would be too much of a culture shock so we're stuck for several years.  

I'm guessing 10 years more till we can leave.  Our house is paid off as are the cars.  No CC debt.  The older two (17,15) have been told we are NOT signing student loans so plan accordingly for college.  I'm too old (50) to take on that risk.  I keep pushing .mil service for the GI Bill and tuition assistance.  The older boy is ignoring my advice.  He's hoping to get a full ride somewhere with plans to become an elementary school teacher  While admirable I cannot fathom why anyone would become a teacher or cop these days.  You are wrong no matter what you do.

IL is beyond redemption short of being placed in receivership and having all debts renegotiated for .10 on the dollars.  Chiraq is in the same boat and surprisingly both have been run by D's for several decades though I'm sure that's just a coincidence...

In hindsight I wish we had pulled up stakes after getting married and leaving.  Now we're stuck

Illinois is IMO the worst state in the Union.

Taxes are absurd.
Government corruption is unparalleled.
Weather sucks.
Scenery sucks.
Roads are appalling.
Everything outside of a few college towns is trashy, ugly and run down.

I was born and raised here and couldn't list a single positive thing to say about the place if you held a gun to my head. Today Jabba the Governor made the decision for me to retire from my career as a firefighter earlier than I had planned via his vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. In 30 days I'll be officially semi retired and no longer beholden to a residency requirement for work.

Missouri here I come.

I already own property in Missouri.

KC is bigger than STL but combined they have a teeny tiny population compared to Chicago.